Niall Horan seeks out Irish stars for new tour

Niall Horan is on a mission to recruit Irish bands and artists for his upcoming tour.

The One Direction star has branched out on his own since the boyband went on hiatus in 2015, and has so far released singles This Town and Slow Hands.

He'll embark on his Flicker Sessions tour, which kicks off in Dublin, the capital of his home country, on 29 August (17) before taking in dates across the world, ending in San Francisco, California in November.

Niall will be joined on the road by a host of up-and-coming music stars, with many hailing from his native Ireland.

"So for my shows I wanted to make it as Irish as possible and show off the incredible music coming out of our lovely little country," he tweeted to his 32.3 million followers on Tuesday (15Aug17), followed by an Irish flag emoji.

"So I asked around to see who was available and we got some great replies, so happy with this."

The bands that have so far been announced include Wild Youth, who'll play at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Picture This, who'll be at the London and Stockholm shows, and singer Gavin James, who's heading to America and Canada with Niall. +

American musican Corey Harper will also play some dates, and Niall added, "@coreyharp is obviously American but I wanted to share how great this guy is."

Fans were delighted with the news that the 23-year-old star is keen to support Irish talent, with many exclaiming they were proud of him and calling the move "cute".

As well as Europe and the U.S., Niall will stop off in South America, Australia and Japan.